August 20, 2010
Source: Catholic News Service
http://cnsblog.wordpress.com/2010/08/25/master-of-soles/
In a unique effort to help promote Christian unity, the pope’s shoemaker has made the same pair of shoes for both Pope Benedict XVI and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow.
Italian cobbler Adriano Stefanelli fashioned a pair of white satin shoes for the pope and the same exact style in black for the head of the Russian Orthodox Church.
“It’s a small sign for strengthening the desire for Christian unity,” he told the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, Aug. 25.